Be honest, did you pick Bud Norris as the Astros’ best pitcher?

Back during the pre-season, when fans projected which pitcher would lead the Astros in 2011, most selected Brett Myers, Wandy Rodriguez or some of us — ahem — went with J.A. Happ. Few, if any, chose Bud Norris as the Astros’ leader of the pack, although I’m certain that now many will come out of the woodworks saying they “…had Bud in the pool”.

Certainly in the first five starts of the season, Mr. Norris is already in a groove that is turning heads. And, often, it is the opposition’s heads that are turning.

With the Astros’ win Tuesday night, Norris recorded his third straight quality start and fourth straight game with six-plus innings pitched. Not too shabby for the team’s #4 starter. In those last three games, Bud has:

Allowed only three earned runs.

19 Ks and 6 BBs.

Lowered his ERA from 8.10 to 3.86.

Shown increasing command of his pitches.

Too early to get giddy? Yes, perhaps, but in a season that may be short on highlights, Norris is already filling the highlight reel. Indeed, Norris and quality starts haven’t always been in the same sentence. He had three in all of 2010 and five in 2009.

No one is suggesting that he’s going to challenge Myers’ 2010 run of 32 consecutive quality starts in 2010, but Norris’ jump out of the gate could be the onset of a nice story this season.

To find one of the secrets to his success this year, look no further than the walks category. With only nine walks in 28 IP, Norris has his lowest BB/9 of his career (2.9), even dating back to the minor leagues when his BB/9 reached as high as 4.0 in 2009. And, as he has increased his K/9 total each year as an Astro, he’s nearly doubled his K/BB ratio since his rookie season (2.16 to 3.8).

Post-game announcer Kevin Eschenfelder even suggested that Bud may not be the best pitcher on the Astros’ team, but “…has the best stuff”. For a 26-year-old who can hit that mid-90s fastball, he certainly may be the pitcher in the upper echelons of the organization with the most upside, if he can continue to harness that other “stuff”. Baseball America projected him as the team’s future closer in this year’s release, but Bud Norris is staking his claim to the future rotation.

Do you see him as a possible ace or will he remain a middle-of-the-rotation pitcher throughout his career?

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Hey, I missed the game, walked in the house as the Astros were mauling Bill Hall. Tell me what I missed in the game.

Steve Sparks was praising the Astros’ offense on the post-game show and declared that this team has the best offense of any Astros’ team “…the past 2-3 years.” Really?